August 21- Flattop Mtn, Hallett Peak, Andrews Glacier Loop Hike - 11 miles - 3000 feet elevation gain
This is a classic. Two mountains with wonderful views, then you get the thrill of descending the biggest glacier in the park.
Flattop Mtn is 12,324 ft, Hallett is 12,713
First up is to climb 2800 ft and 4.4 miles to the top of Flattop. So off we go!
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| Breaking at the Dream Lake overlook |
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| Fixing a blister..... |
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| Trees are getting smaller and the air thinner |
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| Pausing to rest and enjoy the views |
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| Sweet Scenery |
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| Emerald Lake overlook |
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| Emerald Lake |
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| Emerald |
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| A couple of brothers, one old, one young |
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| Was a nice break at Emerald, but Dad doesn't like to sit for too long, so on we go..... |
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| Above treeline, lots of tundra |
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| Checking out Tyndall Glacier.... Just a little too steep for us. |
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| Pretty neighborhood |
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| Travis, Trent, Brandon |
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| Just about to the top of Flattop |
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| On top of Flattop |
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| This particular hiker seemed to spend a lot of time horizontal!! Brianna on top of Flattop |
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| Melissa and Shannon on top of Flattop |
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| Melissa, Laura, Brianna |
So, after eating and resting on Flattop, Dad headed south across the divide to scope out Andrews Glacier. The others headed south for a bit and then east to ascend Hallett. We had the talkies to stay in contact. Hallett is another 400 feet higher than Flattop, and worth the additional effort if you haven't been up before.
Somehow these group of kids managed to make a career out of Hallett. From last year I estimated that it would be 20 minutes up, maybe a half hour, take a few pics, head down, again maybe a half hour, cross the tundra and we meet up.
In analyzing the pictures, it appears that they took advantage of Dad's absence and spent a lot of time breaking and hanging out on the summit!! Two hours and they still were not down...... Hum, maybe I stay with them next time.
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| going up hallett |
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| Keep going |
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| At the top of Hallett |
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| The tallest peak in the distance is Longs. |
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| Time to head down before Dad comes charging up here to get us!! |
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| Uh, anybody got an idea where the old man might be??? |
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| hum, can't see him. |
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| Keep going, maybe he will find us...... |
I could sometimes hear the kids talking as they descended the mountain, but I could not see them. Finally I could make out Travis' green top. They still could not locate me. I am somewhere generally south of them in the next pic. They instructed me to walk in ten foot circles...... Nice try....
The glacier appeared to me to be soft enough to safely descend so they kept on across the divide. Else they would have passed the two glacier/snow fields below and ascended the first uprise on the left which is Otis and then we would have descended some Class 2 terrain to get back to civilization.
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| Almost to the bottom of Hallett, and in another 1/4 mile we would have visual contact |
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| We arrive together at the Glacier. |
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| A little bit of a down climb to get on the glacier |
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| All seems good.... |
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| Breaking out the poles, spikes, and plastic bags to slide on. |
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| Dad and Laura go first to scout the route. We wanted to make sure no big crevasses or ice was over the edge. There was some ice about 3/4 of the way down, but it was avoidable. We also set up guards at the rocks in case someone lost control on the descent. |
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| Crevasses |
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| Big Crevasse, perhaps 50 to 75 feet down |
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| And their off!!..... Brandon and Leanne |
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| Over the crest we go, still looking good. |
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| Andrews Tarn is the first water, the Loch is further below |
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| The sliders descended to this gulley on the right (south) and then slid from their to the rocks, where, because of ice we had to travel on the rocks for a while and then some jumped back on the glacier and others stayed on the rocks. |
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| One big snow hill. The glacier is a half mile long. |
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| Guarding the icy spot and the rocks. Next time we bring helmets. |
After skirting the tarn on our right, we descended on rocky ground for an extended period. Some of it was steep and at times slow going. Eventually we ended back on a maintained trail and proceeded to pick up the pace and travel back to the lower glacier gourge trail head where we jumped a bus to the bear lake trail head where our cars were.
This hike is a blast. The second time for some of us and we would do it again if the opportunity came up.
